Category: News Feeds

Rutendo* was getting close to her due date when the government announced the 21-day lockdown to tackle COVID-19. She stays in a farming area, 35 kilometres from the nearest healthcare facility, and her chances of getting an ambulance in time for emergency care were always minimal. Rutendo’s older sister died five years ago from complications in pregnancy and her mother, not wanting to take any chances, sent Rutendo to the nearest district hospital to ‘sit and wait’ for a safe delivery before the lockdown came into effect on 30 March. Rutendo delivered a bouncing baby girl the very next day. In pain, she expected to stay at least two days under observation, but she was discharged after one night when the lockdown began.

Rutendo had heard that soldiers were beating people up on the streets to enforce the lockdown and she was afraid to go and buy medication

Within two weeks her baby fell sick. Rutendo’s mother thought that the baby needed stomach medication. Rutendo had heard that soldiers were beating people up on the streets to enforce the lockdown and she was afraid to go and buy medication, but her baby was in pain so she gathered courage to go to the nearest shopping centre in Norton, 40 km west of Harare.

Upon arrival Rutendo found that the pharmacy had reduced its operating hours and was closed. She returned the next day, but the pharmacy did not have the medication she was looking for and she was advised to go to Harare. Rutendo told Amnesty International that she was afraid to travel to Harare because of the numerous check points and the risk of police brutality, given that she had no documentation to justify her journey. When community members advised her to travel with her baby as proof, she told Amnesty that she said “how do I travel with a child who is less than 6 weeks to Harare just to get medication. I will be placing the child in more danger.”

Many new mothers are now facing impossible decisions like this due to the pandemic. As well as travel restrictions and medication shortages, some are cut off from the women relatives they rely on for postpartum support. Rutendo explained, that culturally older women’s support is a critical support for new mothers.  Rutendo praised her mum for taking care of her, cooking nutritious meals, nursing her and helping take care of the newborn whilst she is recovering. Research indicates that social support can help prevent postpartum depression. Countless other new mothers do not have the benefit of having their mothers or other relative nearby who can give them the levant support during this lockdown. Isolation has meant that some new mothers are alone, without any help or social support.

The lockdown has placed an extra burden on women and girls, who already perform 2.5 to 3 times as much unpaid care work at home, compared to men

Tryphine* lives in a township outside of Harare and her mother could not travel from Masvingo which 297 kilometers from Harare to be with her when she gave birth. Tryphine needed a caesarean delivery and has struggled to recover. She is still expected to cook, fetch water and look after her two other young children. With no one to help or talk to, she has had to ask her eldest child to assist with care work at home and is neglecting her recovery.

For some mothers, the situation is worsened by living in a large family set-up, without access to running water and where other family members may need to be taken care of. Care work mothers in these situations are having to do includes making sure that family members have water to bath and drink, and their meals prepared.  The lockdown has placed an extra burden on women and girls, who already perform 2.5 to 3 times as much unpaid care work at home, compared to men.

Many families are also facing increased poverty as a result of being unable to work during the lockdown. Many pregnant women and girls will be unable to afford the costs of transport to health facilities to give birth.  Those with no support like Rutendo’s have no option but a home delivery with unskilled birth attendants, risking delivery in unhygienic conditions. Some nurses have told community activists of a reduction in the numbers of women who are going to maternity waiting homes, clinics or hospitals for skilled delivery. Yet, pregnant women have raised concern about the difficulty of getting transport during the lockdown and their fear of police brutality. Home births with unskilled care places women and girls at risk of maternal mortality and morbidity and can have devastating consequences for the baby, including risk of mother to child transmission of HIV.

During the ongoing lockdown period, the government must prioritise maternal health care

Already Zimbabwe is battling high maternal mortality rates.  During the ongoing lockdown period, the government must prioritise maternal health care. Authorities must make arrangements to ensure women and girls have to access antenatal care, maternity waiting homes and skilled medical care to give birth. They should also allow for medical and social support in the postpartum period and ensure access to medication and health care.

*Real names withheld to protect their identities.

Post published in: Featured

Tobacco is the second biggest earner of foreign exchange after gold, and last year generated $747 million in exports mainly to China and Europe, according to central bank data.

Industry regulator Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board (TIMB) said production was expected around 230 million kilogrammes after rain cut the area planted by 12% and fewer growers planted the crop compared to last year.

Farmers, who produced an all time high of 259 million kgs of tobacco last year, sell their crop to tobacco merchants, who process the crop for export.

“The crop before us was generally grown under grim weather conditions characterised by late rains and long dry spells,” Pat Devenish, the TIMB chairman said at a ceremony to mark the beginning of the tobacco selling season in Harare.

After a drought last year, poor rains this season and the coronavirus outbreak, humanitarian aid groups say Zimbabwe faces a catastrophe, as more than half the population require food aid.

To prevent the spread of the coronavirus, TIMB has banned informal traders from selling goods at auction floors.

Farmers will not be allowed to sleep outside the auction floors while waiting to sell the crop as has happened in the past.

Devenish said farmers would be allowed to retain half their earnings in dollars and the remainder in local currency. (Reporting by MacDonald Dzirutwe;Editing by Elaine Hardcastle)

Post published in: Agriculture

UK Home Office efforts to deport an HIV-positive Zimbabwean man because of his lengthy criminal record have been blocked after the supreme court ruled removing him would breach his human rights.

Sending the 33-year-old man, identified only as AM, back to Zimbabwe would deny him access to life-saving treatment with the anti-retroviral medication Eviplera, the court unanimously accepted. The drug is not available there.

The case has been sent back to the lower courts for reconsideration.

AM was born in Zimbabwe in 1987 and came to the UK in 2000. He and his mother, who had already been living in Britain, were granted indefinite leave to remain in 2004.

In the following years, he accumulated convictions for battery, assault, receiving stolen goods and twice for possession of a blade in public. In 2006, the Home Office first made an order to deport him. He has since married and had a son.

Three years later, he was convicted of further serious offences including possession of a firearm and heroin with intent to supply. He was jailed for nine years.

In 2012 his lawyers challenged the Home Office deportation order, submitting evidence that he had first been diagnosed with HIV in 2003 but that he had not become seriously ill until later.

The first anti-retroviral drug produced severe side effects. When he was switched to Eviplera his blood count increased and he recovered.

Opening the judgment, Lord Wilson said: “This appeal requires the court again to consider one of the most controversial questions which the law of human rights can generate.

“It relates to the ability of the UK to deport a foreign citizen who, while lawfully resident here, has committed a string of serious crimes. The reaction of many British citizens is likely to be: ‘We don’t want this man here.’ His response is: ‘But I need to remain here.’.”

AM originally appealed against removal on the grounds that it would breach article 8 of the European convention on human rights, which guarantees the right to private and family life.

A recent test case against Belgium at the European court of human Rights in Strasbourg established the principle that under article 3 of the convention, which outlaws torture and inhuman treatment, those with serious ill health cannot forcibly be removed to another country if they would suffer there a substantial reduction in life expectancy.

The appeal court was bound by legal precedent and could not permit the claim to switch from article 8 to article 3. The supreme court, however, can do so.

Delivering judgment, Wilson said: “This is not one of those highly exceptional situations in which we should decline to follow a decision of the Strasbourg court.

“We therefore allow the appeal and remit the appellant’s proposed claim under article 3 for consideration by an immigration tribunal, which will no doubt seek to conduct a full inquiry into (among other things) the adequacy of the medical treatment likely to be available to the appellant in Zimbabwe.”

The present Parliamentary recess began on 18th March, when both Houses resolved to adjourn until Tuesday 5th May after the President’s announcement of special measures to be taken against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The extended National Lockdown is due to expire at midnight on Sunday 3rd May.  But the Government has already announced that the opening of the second school term, due in normal times on 5th May, has been indefinitely postponed.  So a further extension seems on the cards, albeit it with further modifications in the interests of the economy. This means that it may be unlikely that Parliament will resume its sittings on May 5th.

Committee on Standing Rules and Orders [CSRO] to Decide on Way Forward

Parliament’s Committee on Standing Rules and Orders [CSRO] will meet tomorrow, Thursday 30th April, to determine how to handle the fact that, strictly speaking, the recess should end with sittings of both Houses next Tuesday afternoon.

Section 181 of the Constitution makes the CSRO the most important Parliamentary committee.  Under this section the CSRO has the power to consider and decide “all matters concerning Parliament”.  It is chaired by the Speaker of the National Assembly or, in the absence of the Speaker, the President of the Senate.  Its 25 members include several Ministers ex officio and its other members must be appointed or selected so that the CSRO reflects as nearly as possible the political and gender composition of the combined Houses of Parliament.  It follows that it is dominated by the governing party, but other parties have a voice.  The quorum is 13.    [Comment: presumably MPs presently in Harare will be contacted first to save too much travel between provinces, and when they meet social distancing will be observed].

What will the CSRO decide?

Section 146 of the Constitution leaves it to each House of Parliament to determine the time and duration of its own sittings and its period of recess – as long as no more than 180 days is allowed to elapse between the sittings of a particular House.

Both Houses decided on 18th April that they would sit again on Tuesday 5th May.   So meetings of some sort seem mandatory.  But what sort of meeting would be satisfactory?

Virtual meetings?

As we understand the position, although Parliament has taken initial steps towards being paperless, existing resources do not permit the “virtual” or online meetings resorted to by some legislatures in other countries..

Reduced numbers?

Available space in both National Assembly and Senate chambers does not permit physical distancing if full attendance is desired.  Full attendance would also require travel by MPs from constituencies distant from Harare.  But full – or even normal – attendance may not be necessary, depending on what the CSRO decides on what, if any, business any sittings should tackle.

Staff in Parliament have suggested that reduced attendance may be the way to go – as long as it is representative of political and gender composition of the House concerned.  The Senate quorum is 26.  The National Assembly quorum is 70.  Quorate sittings that are sufficiently representative should be achievable, even in the limited space available in the two chambers.  The party whips in consultation with each other should be able to organise attendance in sufficient numbers to enable representative sittings of both Houses to take place either at Parliament or at another, more spacious, venue. The CRSO may even decide that in the present exceptional circumstance rules on quorums could be suspended provided both parties agree.  [Note: the quorums are not specified in the Constitution, they are set by Parliament’s Standing Orders, which also provide for their suspension.]

Nature of business?

MPs are probably bursting to put questions to Ministers about the Government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and its plans for the way ahead.  But the CSRO’s decision on the business to be conducted next Tuesday is likely to prove the last word.  It may be that the only business conducted will be to decide that Parliament adjourns again to a future date.

Veritas makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take legal responsibility for information supplied.

Post published in: Featured

Ed. note: Welcome to our daily Trivia Question of the Day feature.

How long did John Marshall serve as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court?

Hint: Marshall was the fourth Chief, and he served in that position the longest.

See the answer on the next page.

Here in America, the major coronavirus lockdowns have been in place for well over a month. If you want to keep yourself from going all Jack Nicholson in The Shining, there are only two ways to escape: mentally or physically.

Fortunately, I live in a state in which the middle of nowhere is only a short drive away and the governor has explicitly exempted hiking, hunting, and fishing from the list of prohibited activities. So, we packed a picnic lunch, loaded the teenager and the dog into the car, and squished through a delightfully filthy hike on a remote stretch of riverside mud. We hardly encountered another soul.

It’s the drive that’s always a bit of a challenge though. You walk a fine line with a teen in the car. If you do things exactly right, you can just barely manage to find the sweet spot between being trapped in a tiny glass box with a sullen nightmare and having to listen to the same five pop songs in a never-ending loop.

We were covered on the way there: there was some kind of Blackfeet Tribe cultural audiobook she had to listen to for school. When we reached the end of that on the way home though, after a few minutes of talking, we were veering dangerously close to a bunch of candy-coated pop beats invading my old-man ears.

But then, like an oasis shimmering on the horizon as you trudge through the desert, somehow Jim Jefferies’ gun control routine came up in our conversation. I glanced away from the road for an instant, just long enough to silently confirm with my girlfriend that we’d reached that special moment in a young woman’s life: when she is ready to be introduced to the comedy of Jim Jefferies.

Jim got through his gun control routine to wild laughter from all vehicle occupants. We watched his Freedumb special on Netflix when we got home. A few days later, I walked by the closed door of our teen’s room to hear the purr of Jim’s Australian accent emanating therefrom. She was watching Jim Jefferies on her own. I felt a swell of pride.

The girlfriend and I had been to a Jim Jefferies show about a year prior in which he berated an audience member near the front as a bad parent for bringing her teenager to his show, to the general amusement of all assembled. That could be us now!

Before the coronavirus pandemic ruined everything that brings us joy in life, I’d been planning to see Jim Jefferies perform on May 1 with my girlfriend (sans dependent) on the way to Chicago. That obviously isn’t happening anymore. But I kind of like how things came full circle for us with Jim during the coronavirus lockdown. Not only have we been watching Jim Jefferies as a family, we’ve gotten endless hours of additional entertainment and bonding time reminiscing about his routines and shouting portions of key jokes at one another (“Thanks, Jonathan!”). Now, when things reopen, we can all go see a Jim Jefferies show together.

So, if you’re looking for a way to connect with your teen during what are hopefully the final days of this lockdown, and if you’d like to escape into laughter from the shit that is the world right now, turn on some Jim Jefferies stand-up. Should you feel bad about enjoying Jim’s many vulgar rants, just paper over your shame with the veneer of respectability Jim’s achieved. Heck, his gun control routine has supposedly even been tapped as a teaching aid at some top-tier law schools.

Jim Jefferies has three specials available on Netflix at the moment (I’d start with Bare), or you can peruse several options available on Amazon for a few bucks each. You’re not going to get a better value for your lockdown entertainment dollar than that. And this is the one and only warning you’ll get from me about Jim Jefferies: if you’re offended by naughty language or just about anything else, don’t bother, you won’t like his material. Let’s just say that the next time our household teen does something foolish and gets in trouble, she’s got a get out of jail free card coming from me if her response is, “If you’re a dumb ****, and your wife or your husband is a dumb ****, guess what your f**king kids are.”

Jonathan Wolf is a litigation associate at a midsize, full-service Minnesota firm. He also teaches as an adjunct writing professor at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, has written for a wide variety of publications, and makes it both his business and his pleasure to be financially and scientifically literate. Any views he expresses are probably pure gold, but are nonetheless solely his own and should not be attributed to any organization with which he is affiliated. He wouldn’t want to share the credit anyway. He can be reached at jon_wolf@hotmail.com.